Those Who Endure
by NickFalcon
Summary: Shinobi use their powers to kill, but also to protect. Morino Ibiki is no different. What would happen if he took just a little interest in the lives of Konoha's most troubled?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I own nothing. Not Naruto, not , not enough talent to make money off writing, and certainly not enough money to be worth suing. So please don't ;_;

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**Prologue: A Life Denied**

The Sandaime stood at a circular table, around which nearly two dozen ANBU and jounin were gathered, himself included. For the most part, these were high-ranking members within the village, people of influence and power, those qualified to make military decisions. The single exception was the silver-haired youth with the uneven hitai-ite that covered his left eye. Hatake Kakashi was a powerful member of the ANBU, but lacked the influence of the others in the room—he noted that White Fang's son had not been allowed to participate in the defense of the village despite his skills, because his youth meant he had to be protected for the sake of the future, even if everyone else in Konoha burned to keep himself and those in his age group alive. Fortunately, and thanks to the sacrifice of Yondaime, it had not come to that. But he [i]was[/i] being allowed at this debate, in the absence of Jiraiya, as the inheritor of Namikaze-sama's Will of Fire. Sarutobi had insisted the boy be present for the matter at hand.

The matter that, even now, slumbered in a bed in the center of the table, blonde hair already giving him a resemblance to his newly-deceased father.

He leaned against the wall, half in shadows, watching his fellow Leaf ninja. Many notable people were there. Sarutobi Hiruzen, called back into the post of Hokage by simple virtue of emergency laws governing the death of the current Hokage in time of war, which an attack from the Kyuubi certainly qualified as. Uchiha Fugaku and Hyuuga Hiashi, heads of their clans, possessors of the strongest doujutsu in the world. Aburame Shibi was also present, his stoic, logical attitude always counted on to cut through to the heart of the issue. Shimura Danzo, of course, was here, always looking to provide a more final solution to any perceived threat to Konoha. He didn't particularly have any problems with the man himself, but he rarely found himself agreeing with Danzo's stances. Even the shinobi in his own division retained their humanity, and he believed that was crucial to being a shinobi. At times—particularly for his division and ROOT—it was necessary to set aside one's humanity for the sake of the village, but Danzo wanted to cut it out entirely, like a weakness to be purged from the body. And his solutions were almost always a variation of "let's kill them without getting caught" with very little regard for collateral damage to anyone or anything outside of Konoha. It disturbed a huge majority of the jounin and ANBU that knew of him, but when Danzo was allowed to employ his solutions, they were always effective. And so Danzo had stayed in power, a necessary evil, the dark side of the village—much like himself and his division, though he hoped never to see the day that he became as...stubborn...as Danzo.

"So that's the container for the Kyuubi?" one of the jounin asked, eyes narrowed. The Sandaime turned to him, pulling the pipe from his mouth before responding. "Yes. Yondaime's last request was for this child to be treated as a hero. He will be spending his life protecting us from the Kyuubi, after all." The jounin sucked his teeth in irritation, seemingly fiddling with his shuriken holster absentmindedly. Kakashi was less subtle as he took a step forward, straightening his hitai-ite and revealing the Sharingan in his left eye. He said nothing, but the implication was very clear: anyone considering attacking the child was going to go through White Fang's son first. Unfortunately, a large number of the jounin seemed to have similarly murderous thoughts. He sighed mentally. They were seeing the child as its guest already. Objectively, they knew that this kid had nothing to do with the attacks. Objectively, they knew the Yondaime was too good with his sealing techniques for the Kyuubi to take over the body. Objectively, they knew that killing this physical form was a bad idea in the long run, as the Kyuubi would simply reform, and nobody would know when or where.

This was apparently difficult for many of them to set aside in light of the huge sections of Konoha that had been carved up, the dozens of shinobi dead by the Kyuubi's actions, the mourning of a nation for so many fallen.

Idiots.

He was old. Not as old as the Sannin, but older than the fallen Yondaime. And he was experienced. He'd been all over the world in the course of his job. And all over the world, the jinchuuriki were the same: lonely, isolated, barely loyal to anyone but themselves, shunned by everyone else. Konoha hadn't been as bad in the past. The prior containers of the Kyuubi had both been wives of the Hokage, affording them a great deal of respect and protection from this attitude. The child would not have the same shield. He already knew that this kid's life was destined to be harsh. "We can't leave him alive, Hokage-sama. The Kyuubi has the most potent chakra among the Tailed Beasts, nobody can seal it. Kushina was the last one who could." But the Sandaime shook his head. "No. The boy is Uzumaki by blood. He can suppress the demon fox." That got his attention. Uzushiogakure had been completely wiped out, the Uzumaki clan slaughtered, a handful of survivors scattered to the four winds. The prior jinchuuriki had both been from this prodigious clan, but to find a newborn Uzumaki at just the right time...he was suspicious. But Hyuuga Hiashi nodded thoughtfully. "That would explain the potency of his chakra and the thickness of the coils." His eyes flicked over to the jounin who had spoken up. "As well, the seal is perfect. Kyuubi's chakra is completely suppressed. Nothing escapes my eyes." Beside him, Uchiha Fugaku said nothing, but nodded agreement.

"Why take the chance?" another jounin piped up, her eyes narrowed in disgust as she looked at the child. "It would be safer to reseal the Kyuubi in an older ninja." Of course, this has the side effect of killing the infant. "There's nobody else who can do it," Kakashi snapped. "Certainly nobody in this room is qualified for the job." He locked eyes with the kunoichi, and it was hard to tell who was angrier with the other. Scratch that—Kakashi's Sharingan was beginning to spin slowly, he was definitely the angrier one. They were interrupted by another suggestion. "Why not simply raise the boy away from the village?" It was Aburame Shibi who replied. "No jinchuuriki would survive outside of the capital hidden village of each country. He would be assassinated before he learned to walk. Attempting such a thing is no better than killing the child." Very few people were perturbed by that idea, and he reflected on the irony that he was one of the more humane people in the room right now. He was sure his superiors would have been thrilled. The Hokage watched quietly, and though the man understood that many of these shinobi were speaking out of grief, he felt certain that Sarutobi was keeping a mental checklist of people who would _not_ be assigned to keep an eye on the brat in the future.

"Your pardon, Hokage-sama." Now it was Danzo's turn to speak up. He strode forward, placing his hands on the table. "I may have a solution. Allow me to train him in ROOT. We are used to raising shinobi from infancy." He shivered. Nobody in ROOT had anything resembling a personality, and they were more unsettling than any other group he'd ever met. "No!" Kakashi exclaimed, the teen turning on Danzo. "No way Minato-sensei would have wanted this kid put under _your_ control." Danzo looked slowly at the prodigy, one of the greatest ninja Konoha had produced. "As noble as the Yondaime's sacrifice was, he is no longer here. And you cannot speak for him, grieving as you are." Kakashi glared angrily at Danzo, but many of the jounin were nodding in agreement. Until a deep, gravelly voice cut through the room. "It's not who he can't speak for that should bother you, it's who he can speak for." Nara Shikaku, face bandaged up from where he'd been slashed across the right side of his head during the Kyuubi's rampage. He sighed, looking at Danzo. "If Kakashi says the Yondaime wouldn't want this, then Yondaime wouldn't want this. Tell me, Danzo, would you willingly pit your ROOT against a grieving teacher? When Jiraiya returns, he will find out all these details, and he'll come for the child if he has to. I for one would not want to be between the Toad Hermit and his goal in that situation." Danzo narrowed his eyes, but did not dispute the argument. Sarutobi, however, smiled slightly, apparently pleased by this accurate assessment of his student.

"For now, he will be moved to an orphanage in Konoha. Kakashi, for the time being, you will be placed in charge of security for the child. Form an ANBU team, around-the-clock surveillance. Protect him from any threats." There was no implication in the Sandaime's words or voice, but he heard it nonetheless: Kakashi was being assigned because he would protect the infant from the wrath of the villagers as best he could, not only from assassinations. "Furthermore, I am decreeing a new law, here and now. Nobody is to speak of that fact that this child is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. No children are to be told of his identity, no outsiders, nobody who does not already know will be allowed to know. The penalty for breaking this rule will be severe." The Sandaime turned to him, and he pushed off from the wall to stand up straight, knowing it was coming. "Ibiki, you will be in charge of administering punishment to those who break this law. Make sure anyone who breaks it will never consider doing so again."

Morino Ibiki's dark eyes swept the room, his deadly calm and reputation letting him get under the skin of many of those present, hardened jounin that they were. "I will only have to punish the first person who breaks your law, Hokage-sama. After that, nobody else will want to." A little dramatic, but the words had a powerful effect, which was what he had been going for.

The Sandaime nodded. "Very well. Dismissed." The room emptied quickly, soon leaving only the Sandaime, Kakashi, Ibiki himself, and Uchiha Fugaku, who turned to the Copycat Ninja. "The Police Force will assist in the boy's protection as needed. Mikoto and Kushina were good friends, and I have no intention of letting her son die." Kakashi's eyebrows rose up, but the head of the Uchiha clan merely smiled as he walked away. That little fact had not come up during the meeting, though that meant nothing to those in the loop—including the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans. Ibiki turned to follow the doujutsu user out the door, but he paused, looking at the infant. Wisps of blonde hair covered his head, and his cheeks bore whisker marks. Likely a result of Kushina being the host of the Kyuubi at the time of his birth, but the village would see the markings as a sign that the kid was in fact a monster. As his immediate superiors had died during the attack, Morino Ibiki was the de facto head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Squad until one could be chosen officially. That meant he had a lot of work to do on such short notice. Still...his fearsome reputation was being used as a shield for the kid, he might as well take a moment to learn just a little bit more about him.

"What's the kid's name?"

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

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**Author's Notes:**

Um, hello o_o

So yeah, this is the prologue to a story I've been mulling around in my head. I'm aware I'm not a very good writer, and I probably shouldn't bother posting on at all, but I wanted to give it a shot, so here's to the start of a horrible disaster, eh? ^_^

So if it wasn't obvious, this story's going to involve Morino Ibiki, a character I thought was particularly cool. Who says terrifying sadistic torturers can't be nice guys, right? I liked his attitude in the manga, for what little of him we saw. I won't say any more about it, except that the story I've got mulling around my head is going to start well before the canon started, and I'm hoping it'll be a bit different from what everyone's expecting! Not that I expect to get a lot of attention, but if someone likes it, then yay me, not a total failure! =D


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I own nothing. Not Naruto, not , not enough talent to make money off writing, and certainly not enough money to be worth suing. So please don't ;_;

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**Chapter 1: The Last Uchiha**

Seven years.

Seven years since the Kyuubi's assault on the village.

And this of all things had to happen.

A week ago, Konoha had been sent reeling by the most devastating news in seven years. Uchiha Itachi, the pride of his clan, had slaughtered the Uchiha almost to the man. The only survivor of his attack was his younger brother, Sasuke. And while in any normal situation, this would be a time to have sympathy on the boy, Konoha was first and foremost a military nation. A traitor wipes out his entire clan and flees the village, but leaves alive only the youngest, his brother? There was plenty of reason for suspicion there. And so they had set to making sure that Sasuke was not a sleeper, willing or otherwise, disguised as helping him recuperate from the trauma of seeing his own parents cut down in front of him. Yamanaka had confirmed that there were no hidden seals within his mind, though an amnesiac genjutsu of sorts had sealed away a portion of the boy's memories. The seal was complex, designed only to break when Sasuke himself broke it, but Inoichi had confirmed that it was only a memory. The rest of the memories were quite real, as was the massive emotional trauma. Checkups in the hospital confirmed that the child had no seals hidden within his body, no way to exploit his position—at least, to their extensive knowledge. The Uchiha clan was secretive about their techniques and Itachi was one of their finest. The danger always existed.

Now Morino Ibiki watched through a two-way mirror as one of his subordinates questioned the boy. The questioning itself was ostensibly to get any information they could on why Itachi had done this or where he was going, while trying to ask them in a way to keep the boy calm. However, the real intent was to allow the other members of the Torture and Interrogation Squad to observe Sasuke. To that end, the room was surrounded by observation rooms: while to the Uchiha's unawakened eyes, he was in a drab, typical room in a drab, typical Konoha building, he was actually seated in a glass room, surrounded by other rooms. In this way, he would be observed by several different people, who could compare notes and discuss the interrogation at length later. Ibiki had little interest in searching out tells, however—he was quite certain that the boy was an honest victim, and if he somehow had been trained to fool the other interrogators, it was not likely that Ibiki himself would catch anything. No, he preoccupied his time with charting out the boy's mental state, instead.

There were two reasons Ibiki was such a skilled interrogator. One was his ability to separate his personality from his emotions at will. He could become completely detached from his work on a whim, allowing him to do the horrible things he had to do without it affecting his overall personality. That, more than anything, scared most shinobi outside his department, and why many of them considered him a sadist. He could tear out a suspect's fingernails, teeth, and eyes, and five minutes later be sitting at a restaurant with his subordinates, giving a small smile at a story or joke being told. The other was that he was a highly-trained psychologist. He was renowned for his ability to trap and torture a person mentally and emotionally, to bully them into a corner and beat on them until they gave him what he wanted, without ever laying a physical hand on them. This, combined with the instincts of a highly trained ninja, allowed him to follow the young Uchiha's thought processes despite the fact that Sasuke's emotions had almost completely shut down to help him cope with his ordeal.

Ibiki did not like what he saw. And if he were completely honest with himself, he was a little _afraid_, as well.

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He had continued to monitor the Uchiha over the next month, following him surreptitiously as the child attempted to return to a normal life. Sasuke insisted on living in his clan's compound, despite the fact that he was the only one in the entire district, and that...was disturbing. He suffered, he hated being there alone, but it was as though he embraced the suffering. Ibiki wondered if this was the boy's way of forcing himself to cope with his loss, but somehow he thought there was something else at play. Sasuke was receiving nothing but attention from dozens of Konoha citizens, including what could only be called a _herd_ of kunoichi of his age group. But he clearly didn't want it. Not that Ibiki could blame him—the ones most eager to get close to the boy and offer their condolences were the ones least able to understand how bad it really was. Today, he was standing around the training ring at the Academy, staring off into space as the Nara and Akimichi boys showed Iruka what their taijutsu levels were at. Iruka was a very thorough teacher, which was why he had received the class made up of students who were children of shinobi and therefore likely to enter the academy with some basic training already. The man liked to use the first day to measure his students' relative levels in the basic arts, to gauge how much attention each student needed.

"Good job, both of you. Next up, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto."

Ibiki's eyes widened slightly when he heard that. Naruto was in the advanced class? Why? To his knowledge, nobody had taught him anything before the academy. Jiraiya and Kakashi both were willing, but unable to. If either had taken an interest in the boy, their very long lists of enemies would have a new way to target them, and they couldn't put Naruto in that situation. Not to mention, the boy raised enough red flags having his father's hair and eyes that the Yondaime's sensei and student couldn't risk interaction with him. Not that they hadn't gone out of their way to help where they could. Sandaime had delivered the gifts, but he knew Jiraiya had sent the kid a frog wallet, and Kakashi had sent him the protective goggles on his forehead, saying Naruto reminded him of an old friend. He watched as the two walked into the circle, eyes and senses capturing their emotions as the children around the ring cheered for Sasuke. As he had always expected, the law to protect Naruto's secret had been useless. Children aped their elders to learn what was acceptable and what was not, and it was completely acceptable to ignore or antagonize Naruto. All Naruto wanted was a little positive attention, which he was denied; Sasuke was practically showered in attention that he didn't want.

A conflict was inevitable.

Instead of linking hands as Iruka had instructed, the jealous blonde reached up and grabbed hold of the Uchiha's shirt. Sasuke responded in kind, and naturally, the crowd took his side. The two of them lined up to spar, Iruka gave the signal, and—yep. He'd been right, Naruto didn't have any prior training, at least not in taijutsu. Sasuke, meanwhile, did, and furthermore had a strong desire to _hurt someone_. In seconds, the Uchiha had his fellow student on the ground, fist cocked for a punch that would relived Naruto of more than one tooth if it flew. But he paused. Ibiki could feel the hate churning inside the boy from here, could easily tell that he wasn't seeing Naruto. He was seeing Itachi. That wasn't surprising. The Uchiha were feared for their vengeance. To kill one of them was to make an enemy of their family, and their family carried grudges and sought revenge with a single-minded certainty, so much so that they often lost themselves in the process. There had been a few exceptions, of course—Uchiha who simply lacked that disposition, Uchiha who had learned to let go. Clearly, Sasuke was not one of them.

No, what shocked Ibiki was that _Naruto_ could see all this too. The look on the jinchuuriki's face and the emotions conflicting within him made it clear that while he lacked context to put the puzzle together, he could tell that Sasuke wasn't fighting him, he was seeing someone else. This...was not good. If Naruto was able to read his classmate, he could read any genin or citizen who looked at him. So far, he hadn't turned hostile and angry at the village, which was a miracle in itself. He was ostracized, but he didn't know why. All he knew was pain and suffering. He had been called monster, and worse, by many people, and it was impossible to protect him from this attitude. But if he could read intent, if he knew that so many people in Konoha wanted to hurt him, or kill him, why did he put up with it? And more importantly...how long until the fools in the village beat that out of him?

The wheels in Morino Ibiki's head were starting to turn.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Ibiki?"

The Sandaime's eyes flitted over the paper that the interrogation specialist had handed him. It detailed several observations made about Uchiha Sasuke over the six weeks since his clan had been wiped out, with a second page dedicated to Uzumaki Naruto. Ibiki nodded calmly, standing beside the empty chair in the office, hands in the pockets of his long, dark trench coat. In the years since the Kyuubi's attack, Ibiki had acquitted himself well as the head of the Torture and Interrogation squad. His face was now marred by a deep scar on the right side, from his nose down past his chin, but otherwise, he looked almost the same as he had seven years ago. His reputation had grown, and he had made good on his word to punish hardly those who broke the law governing Naruto's secret. Only seven instances of the law being broken had come up, none of them within the last three years. Hiruzen had complete faith in all of his shinobi, but there were certain jounin that brought comfort to him that Konoha would be safe in the future, and Morino Ibiki was one of them. He still had no candidates to replace him as Godaime Hokage, though he believed Kakashi would be ready when it came time to choose the Rokudaime...

Ibiki nodded. "I have faith in my interpretations, Hokage-sama."

The older man shook his head. "No, I do not question your observations on the boys. I want to know if you're certain about your proposed solution." The report agreed with his own assessment, and with Kakashi's reports on Naruto. Ibiki paused for a moment, considering how best to phrase the answer. "I cannot know if it will succeed or not before the fact. The Uchiha is convinced that nobody in Konoha can understand his pain, and while many can, I doubt words alone will convince him of it. There's something else at play besides loss and devastation. And those memories that have been sealed away...if I were to guess, I would say there's more to this than he's willing to tell us, something related to Itachi. Either way, if we're able to get through to him at all, it will have to be through example. Naruto is the only one in the village who can show Sasuke a hell as dark as he believes his own to be." He paused, looking over at the window, where the tiniest displacement of air betrayed the presence of the Copy Ninja, who was never far from reports about Naruto. Kakashi walked into the window frame, book in hand, as though he were taking a perfectly normal stroll around town. "In Naruto's case, the boy is learning to read emotions and intent. I assume this is sharpened survival instinct, more than any sort of training result. He's learned to gauge how violent people tend to be and how angry they are at him so he knows if he needs to run for it." The Sandaime pinched the bridge of his nose. Naruto's upbringing had not gone at all the way he wanted.

The problem was that those willing to take in the boy were too busy to be able to make time for him, or had too many dangerous enemies to make him such a target. And there was only so much they could shield the child from, for the same reasons. Naruto had led a horrible, horrible life, and the only thing Sarutobi Hiruzen had left to comfort him was the fact that Naruto still _had_ his life. It was only a tiny comfort, however, when he thought of the boy who took so much pain in stride, or the parents who had fought and sacrificed for Konoha, who deserved to have their child treated better. "Whatever the reason, the biased hatred against Naruto has begun to permeate the village, yet his spirit seems undampened by this. Sasuke's hatred is directed at everyone, and is unbiased. Uchiha Mikoto could never bring herself to speak to the boy, but her friendship with Kushina prevented her from being able to hate Naruto, and so Sasuke doesn't have that dislike ingrained into him. The hatred is no less intense, but Sasuke's eyes will not change when he looks at Naruto like the villagers' do. Naruto avoids conflict with most people precisely because of how they look at him and him alone. I'm hoping he'll be more persistent with Sasuke because of this."

"You intend to try to help both of them." Kakashi was sitting on the windowsill now, his one uncovered eye looking at Ibiki. The former ANBU was not related to Naruto by blood, but fully considered himself an uncle to the child of his deceased master. He was also Jiraiya's main contact in the village, not counting the Sandaime himself, and kept the Sannin updated regularly. Ibiki nodded in assent. "Yes. I believe they are each the antidote to one another's poison. It will take time, of course, and very careful nudges in the right direction, but the possibility is there, so we cannot ignore it."

"But are you truly willing to adopt the both of them?" This was the main issue. The Sandaime knew Ibiki. The man was not cruel by nature, and he did not turn away the presence of others, but neither did he seek it out. He seemed comfortable in a group or alone, and had never expressed any sort of interest in a family. But Ibiki shook his head. "There is nobody else in Konoha both willing and able to care for the two of them in the way they need. I have few enemies, my involvement will not bring Uzumaki's parentage into question, and I am fully capable of protecting them from attack." He gave one of his rare smiles to the other two shinobi, a smile that reached his eyes more readily than those that many seemingly friendlier ninja gave on a regular basis. It was a more honest smile than might be expected from a man considered a sadist by many—including the Copy Ninja. "The Will of Fire calls for us all to give everything for the sake of our village and its future. Generations have bled and sacrificed for that ideal. Compared to that, my home and my time are a small price to pay, wouldn't you agree?" Ibiki had dodged the core of the question—did he _want_ them around? Still, Hiruzen could see that his mind was set, and if he were honest with himself, he doubted Ibiki could possibly be anything but a step up for the two young orphans. "Very well. I'll make the preparations tonight. Be here tomorrow and we'll inform your two new charges of their guardian."

Ibiki bowed and turned to leave the room. But Kakashi's voice stopped him. "Ibiki-san, if you need anything from me, you need only to ask." Ibiki did not turn around, but he smiled again.

"You may end up regretting that offer, Kakashi."

* * *

He sat in a reception area, waiting to be summoned to the office of the Hokage. It was hard not to fidget, but his training area was too far away. Even if he'd gone straight from the academy, by the tme he got there he'd just have to turn around and head back to deal with the summons he'd received from Iruka-sensei that morning. So his choice were to go to the tower early and wait, or wander around Konoha. He chose the former. The receptionist still looked at him...like that, but that was better than streets filled with people doing the same. He avoided the chuunin's gaze, but he could always feel it when those eyes were on him. He didn't want to see that look, those eyes that glared at him as though he were a cockroach in their home, something unwelcome, repulsive, but also unimportant, unworthy of attention. _Everyone_ looked at him that way, and Naruto couldn't understand why. Sure, he'd painted a few buildings, dumped food on people here and there, maybe been caught setting up fireworks at the academy once or twice, but everyone looked at him like this whether he behaved or not, so why bother being good? If nobody cared either way, pranks were way more fun than sitting around his house. At least this way he got to play tag with the chuunin and jounin. He'd even had an ANBU in a red-patterned dog mask chase him around once or twice! Now _that_ had been fun: he'd been a challenge, but Naruto had evaded him in the end.

He wondered why he was here. The Hokage rarely assigned punishments for him—usually it was Iruka-sensei. Besides, he hadn't done anything lately. All the schoolwork had been keeping his attention for the most part. A lot of the stuff didn't make much sense to him. Well, he'd never been a big fan of reading. And there was nobody to ask for help, so he had to figure it out for himself, so he'd been working really hard on doing that. This was his first step to being a ninja, after all! So there was no way he was in trouble!...right?

His attention was diverted by the approach of another person. He glanced over, trying to identify the person by their lower body so he didn't run the risk of meeting their eyes, but it wasn't an adult. He knew that blue shirt and those white shorts! Naruto was on his feet in an instant. "What are you doing here, jerk?!" Uchiha Sasuke looked at him in distaste, but the cold in his eyes was always there, so it wasn't as bad as when other people did it. Or maybe it was worse. Naruto really couldn't figure out which it was. "Shut up, you idiot. I was summoned here to see the Hokage." Naruto's mouth dropped open. Why was the old man calling _both_ of them here? Now he knew it wasn't his fault, he'd never pulled any joint pranks with Sasuke. In fact, all they ever did was compete in class...something, he reminded himself bitterly, he never seemed to be able to win at. The Uchiha scowled as he dropped into a seat. "You think you can sit down? You're making a scene in the middle of the Hokage's tower, moron."

"Shut up, Sasuke, you basta—"

But he was silenced by a cough from behind him. He turned on instinct and suppressed a shudder when he accidentally met the receptionist's glare. Sasuke had wound him up, so rather than avert his eyes, he bared his teeth at the man, exposing his enlarged canines. "The Hokage will see you both now." Sasuke stood up, stalking toward the old man's office, and after a moment, Naruto shoved his hands into the pockets of his orange shorts and followed, dragging his feet and pouting.

He followed his fellow student into the office, the chuunin closing the door behind them, and looked up in surprise. He knew the office and the old man well enough, but he was usually here for one-on-one meetings for mischief that required the Hokage to speak with him. He'd never come here with other people, so if Sasuke's appearance wa surprising, it was nothing compared to the man standing at the Hokage's shoulder. The man was startling for any number of reasons. First off, the guy was _huge_. Naruto had never seen anyone as tall as this guy, he broke six feet easily. He was dressed in all grays, too, which gave him a drab feeling. Light gray button-up shirt with a raised collar, dark gray pants, black sandals, and a dark gray trench coat. To complete the ensemble, he wore another dark gray cloth like a bandana on his head, upon which rested his hitai-ite. His face was rugged and angular, and he had a big scar down the right side too. His eyes were narrow and black, and combined with his calm, detached face, he looked like someone who was suspicious of everyone and everything. But the eyes weren't cold. They were indifferent, yes, but not in that horrible way Naruto had come to associate with adults. This man acknowledged that he was there, he just didn't particularly _care_ that he was there, and he looked at Sasuke in the same way, which made Naruto feel a bit better. At least it wasn't just him this time.

Hiruzen looked over the two boys. He hadn't had any close contact with Sasuke since the funeral honoring the Uchiha clan, and he was more than a little disturbed to see that no life had returned to his eyes. A full recovery was out of the question so soon, but there should have been _something_ there. Ibiki was right—there was something deeper than loss tormenting the child. "Naruto, Sasuke. I have something important to tell the two of you." They were polar opposites—Sasuke couldn't have looked less interested if he'd been a housecat, while Naruto was practically vibrating at the edge of his seat. "But first, I'd like to introduce you. This is Morino Ibiki, a jounin of Konoha." Sasuke didn't respond, but Naruto's head tilted thoughtfully. He'd been chased by a lot of jounin, but not this one. He would have remembered a face like that coming after him. Ibiki stepped forward and inclined his head at the two, momentarily drawing Sasuke's eyes to him, but said nothing. Naruto was staring at the large jounin from the corner of his eyes, and the Sandaime was amused to note that the blonde was sizing up the head of the Torture and Interrogation Squad like he might decide to pick a fight.

If there was one thing Naruto had inherited from _both_ his parents, it was fearlessness.

But the boy's sky blue eyes jumped back to Hiruzen after a moment. "Hey! So what did you call me up here for, old man?" He paused, fiddling with the pipe in his mouth for a moment. He'd already worked out how he wanted to explain this, but he was hesitant to do it now that the time had come. Two young lives were riding on this working out, and the first step was to handle the news itself as delicately as possible. "The two of you are academy students, but it has been brought to my attention that both of you are in the advanced class. This is a class for students that are also receiving instruction from their guardians, on top of their academy training, and they are expected to bring a higher level of skill with them than the beginner track. Naruto, I believe that you were placed into this course accidentally." The blonde pouted visibly, but the closed eyes meant that he was worried. He would meet the Hokage head-on otherwise. In truth, neither of the men in the room believed it to be an accident that Naruto was placed into a class where he had no hopes of keeping up with the others. "Sasuke, your placement was not an accident, but in light of recent events...we are worried that you will not be able to keep up with the class for much longer." The raven-haired boy turned to glare at the Hokage. This was also a lie—Sasuke did nothing _but_ train these days, and would likely remain at the head of his class until he graduated.

But lies were one of the many trades of the shinobi. The Sandaime sat back for a moment. "We had been considering moving you two to the other class—however, this would unbalance things as they were, and we also have no desire to punish you two by removing you from the friends you have made in your current class. Therefore, starting tonight, both of you will be living with Ibiki."

The reactions of the two children were an almost humorous reverse of their normal attitudes. Sasuke immediately jumped out of his chair, furious. "I am NOT going to live with anyone!" Naruto remained in his seat, watching Ibiki with a mixture of interest and suspicion. The jounin did not react physically, but irritation crossed his mind briefly. The blonde's reaction was not unexpected, but it was disturbing: clearly, adults had pretended to be kind to him in the past, only to turn on him in an attempt to hurt him. It was similar to how he had somehow been placed in the advanced classes on an accident, but nobody seemed to know who had processed his paperwork and how that had come to be. That is, people were using kindness as a screen just to make their hatred bite harder. Frankly, the boy's resilience was baffling, given that he'd seen more of the dark side of humanity than any seven-year-old deserved. His mask slipped often when he thought he was alone, but his determination was unwavering.

The Hokage looked at Sasuke. "The Uchiha compound is yours. It will remain untouched, and nobody will be allowed to enter it without your permission. Once you graduate, if you wish to move back, I will not stop you. But if you wish to continue to improve quickly enough to keep up with your classmates, you will have to have a guardian who can teach you the basics outside of class."

The Uchiha opened his mouth to yell again, but the Sandaime froze him with a look. "This is not up for debate, Sasuke."

Naruto had finally dropped out of the chair and taken a couple of tentative steps toward the guy, bright blue eyes still looking for anything to confirm his suspicion, anything to reveal the cruel joke he was expecting. He trusted the old man, but this behemoth with the scar was an unknown. He knew from personal experience that bigger people tended to hit harder, and this guy was so big he could probably make Naruto-flavored paste with a few punches. "Why should someone as amazing as me live with this scarred dude? If I have to live with someone it should be you, old man! I'm gonna be Hokage someday, so it would help me learn the job early, ya know?" He wasn't stupid. He knew the old man saw through him, but he didn't think Sasuke or this Ibiki guy did, so it was a good way to voice his fears and offer a suggestion at the same time. He knew it was useless—the old man spent too much time on him as it was, considering he had an entire village to take care of—but he had to try. He trusted the Hokage. He didn't know this Ibiki, and as a general rule, that was plenty of reason not to trust him. Plus he didn't need to be living with the Uchiha bastard! That was just insulting.

His train of thought was derailed as the giant man knelt down onto one knee to look at him more closely. He took a half step back and averted his gaze for several seconds, anticipating a hit or a whispered insult. When none came, he let his eyes drift back to the jounin. "What, Lurch?" he asked defiantly. Ibiki's expression did not waver at the challenge. After a moment, he opened his mouth. "You have nothing to fear from me, boy." With that, he stood back up and walked out the door calmly, leaving the two of them with the Sandaime. Naruto watched him go with wide eyes. The man spoke the truth—not that Naruto had ever been that good on picking up when people were determined to lie to him, mind. But most people who tricked him tried to be friendly about it at first, tried to gain his trust. This guy said it so matter-of-factly that he had to be telling the truth—he made it clearly obvious that he had no intention of trying to convince Naruto he wasn't lying. He felt a prickle of hope as he turned around to the Sandaime.

He didn't say anything, but the Sandaime smiled. If anything this infuriated the _other_ occupant of the room even more. Sasuke had a home already, why should he have to move in with some jounin he didn't even know? Who the hell did the Sandaime think he was?! Sure, the Uchiha compound was devoid of life, but it was _his_ _home_, and he wanted to stay there. And now the grinning idiot and the old man had the nerve to look _happy_ about this? He took a deep, calming breath, before trying again. "Hokage-sama, look...I appreciate the offer and everything, but I'm fine on my own. I don't need anybody."

Hiruzen gave him a piercing stare. "Do you still intend to be a ninja?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I intend to get stronger." It wasn't the same thing. He wanted to be a powerful ninja, but only because of the power. The job didn't matter to him, not any more. He intended to get as strong as he could, so he could kill Itachi, and frankly, he wasn't very fussed about where they power came from. Ninja training was a means to an end—however, where he currently was in life, it was the _only_ means to the end he wanted.

"If you want to continue training, if you want to become stronger, you need to understand that following orders is one duty of a shinobi. You will go with Ibiki, Sasuke, and he will teach you both in the afternoons." Sasuke's scowl returned, deeper, but at the end of the day, he knew he couldn't argue with the decision, no matter how much he wanted to. "Ibiki is waiting outside. Go see what you need to do."

He spun on his heel, annoyance practically vibrating the air around him. He could feel his classmate follow him, the blonde's usual exuberance replaced by a trepidation rarely seen in him. While he lacked the skill necessary to be a ninja, Sasuke had never known Naruto to lack heart. He'd seen the kid get into plenty of trouble, but nobody, from their classmates to their teacher to the jounin and ANBU that caught him and dragged him to the Hokage, had ever dampened Naruto's annoyingly chipper attitude. And yet, here he was, acting almost like he was afraid. Sasuke was curious—kind of. In the end, it didn't really matter to him what had the fox-faced kid on edge, but he couldn't say he'd turn down the answer if it was presented to him. He stepped out of the office, followed by his new...roommate...and looked up in defiance at the jounin assigned to be his guardian. Ibiki merely returned the glare with a disinterested look. "Gather what you will need for the rest of the week and meet me in front of the academy in three hours. From there, we will go back to my house. This weekend, we will finish moving your things over."

Without another word, Morino Ibiki stepped away. Sasuke felt a little better after that; the guy sounded very professional, which as far as he was concerned was fine. He didn't need any more people pretending to care about him for their own sake. He had better things to do with his time than entertain the shopkeepers that would bow and simper to get a slice of the Uchiha fortune or the girls that followed him around and competed over him like a prize. If this guy wasn't going to pretend to care about him, well that suited him just fine.

He didn't notice the confused look on Naruto's face that indicated the blonde was less okay with things.

* * *

He stood sentinel in front of the Konoha Ninja Academy, going over a list of the teachers in the school. It was more to pass the time than anything—he knew most of these files already. Few of the teachers were fair to either of his charges. Most of them hated Naruto on sight, and some had tried to sabotage him with 'helpful' advice despite not being his teacher. Their treatment of Sasuke was, if possible, even worse. Uchiha were expected to be top of their class, much like the Hyuuga, but these teachers heaped praise on Sasuke as though he were the second coming of Hashirama. To his credit, Sasuke clearly didn't want the attention, but he also equated 'further along' with 'better' when comparing himself to his classmates, and he failed to understand the difference. The boy might be quiet, reserved, and easily one of the hardest-working among his peers, but he was still arrogant and believed in individual strength over everything. This was similar to Naruto, who also sought personal strength and skill—but Naruto believed individual strength was everything because he had nobody to teach him the strength of teamwork.

Umino Iruka was easily the best choice for their teacher. He complimented Sasuke when the boy performed well, but no more or less than he did anyone else in his class, and he stressed the importance of teamwork at all times (he loved to use 'reliance' in his talks). He was not, perhaps, completely fair to Naruto—his file indicated that he had lost both parents to the Kyuubi—but he could not bring himself to sabotage the child or mistreat him. Ibiki noted that he often chose tests based on subjects Naruto was struggling with, such as using Bunshin for a ninjutsu test, but the interrogator could not decide if Iruka intended to undermine the boy's confidence or force him to try harder in areas where he was lacking. His opinion was that it was the latter consciously, but unconsciously it was just a little bit of the former. Still, Iruka was by and large successful in being stern but fair to all of his students, which put him miles ahead of his competition.

He closed the folder when he felt the first of his charges approaching. Sasuke's angry expression was unchanged from three hours ago, and he wore only a backpack, which Ibiki assumed had a few changes of clothes and practice weaponry, and not much else. The last Uchiha had been monitored closely ever since the massacre, and all the reports about him concluded that he had exactly three modes when he wasn't in school: training, sleeping, and silent melancholy. Two of those applied to his time in school as well. In fact, outside of the anger he expressed over being forced to live with someone, Sasuke hadn't shown an ounce of emotion to anyone except Naruto. Granted, these were universally negative emotions, but the blonde's ability to pierce through Sasuke's outer shell instantly where nobody else could manage it in a month was unique. That was why Ibiki wanted the two of them together. He also noted that only a couple weeks' worth of observations had left him more emotionally attached to the blonde than expected, another surprising piece of information.

The kid had a way of _getting_ to people.

Not that emotions were enough to sway the torture specialist, of course. He watched Sasuke approach with his usual, detached air. The kid glared at Ibiki for a moment before turning and looking away from him, clearly determined to make this transition as painful as possible. Ibiki let him do so—time was essential to helping emotional scars heal. There was no need to force the issue, and frankly, enough had been forced on the kid for one day. The two of them merely stood in uncomfortable silence, waiting.

A few minutes later, Naruto came running up to the two of them. Amazing how he managed to stand out no matter what he was doing. The blonde brat was wearing a green backpack easily twice his size and obviously stuffed full with his things. In his hands, he carried a box nearly two-thirds his size, and if the label on the side was to be believed, it was an economy-size box of instant ramen cups. Perched on top of that box were three potted plants. And while he couldn't see the boy's face through his load, Ibiki had the distinct impression that Naruto was grinning. Well, at least one of them had warmed up to the idea. He nodded when the last member of their little procession arrived. "Good. Follow me." He turned, making his way toward his home, his great frame and intimidating aura clearing an aisle for the two seven-year-olds who trailed in his wake.

* * *

Whoooooooa.

Lurch had a nice place.

He didn't live in some dingy apartment with leaky faucets or an angry landlord. The guy had his own house in a more rural area of Konoha, a two-story building isolated well away from the next closest home, fenced in and ringed by trees. People rarely gave him credit for brains, but Naruto knew enough about ninja that he could tell this guy was one of the secretive types, and he'd probably made sure his home was surrounded by a barrier of space to make it harder to sneak up to. Most of the other houses in the area were clustered much more closely together, though this particular neighborhood had a lot more green than most of the living areas within the walls. Ibiki opened the gate, letting the two of them pass, and he followed his duck-headed _jerk_ roommate up to the front porch, looking around. No furniture on the porch, no flowerbeds, no nothing. Yep, the lawn was just there to distance the house. This guy didn't look like he ever just sat around enjoying his life. Naruto idly wondered if he might be able to plant some flowers, or if nice smells and pretty colors would be too much for this guy.

The jounin opened the door, allowing the two boys in. Sasuke strode in with all the attitude he could muster, nose turned up, but Naruto hesitated at the doorway. This was really sudden, and he didn't know this guy, and most adults he didn't know were to be avoided, because chances were they were not his friend.

Ibiki watched the boy shuffle his feet. He waited, letting Naruto make the decision entirely on his own. Finally, with more than a hint of hesitation, he scooted inside. Ibiki followed him in, closing and locking the door. "This is my home. Now it's your home as well." The blonde set his box down and looked around, unable to conceal his curiosity. This was likely the first time he'd seen the inside of a home that wasn't his. The inside was a lot more personal than the outside had been. Ibiki had photos up of the various members of the Torture and Interrogation Squad, who were generally a more laid-back bunch when off-duty. He had continued his predecessor's tradition of only allowing shinobi into the squad who could detach their emotions from their actions without trouble. It kept them sane, considering how nasty they sometimes had to get with their subjects, and the entire squad generally viewed one another as a family. They spent a lot of their off-duty time together. Ibiki didn't go out of his way to join them, because he was comfortable alone, but he never turned down an invitation either, because it was important to stay attached to people. The Will of Fire only burned when you had the right kind of fuel: a reason to fight. There were no family pictures up; those were kept securely locked away in his bedroom.

The room they were in was the sitting room, where Ibiki entertained the few guests he had. He kept the layout of his home a secret. This, combined with how remote it was and the extensive sealing network placed on the building, allowed him to use it as a secondary safehouse for important documents and files. He knew the dark side of Konoha, and he knew how deep sabotage and subterfuge ran between the villages, and he took no chances with sensitive data. Every village had spies worked into the other four, and every village had splinter factions of their own to deal with. In Konoha's case, it was ROOT. Unfortunately, Danzo had the authority to pull data from Ibiki's squad without giving a reason. So the squad made sure to stay a step ahead of ROOT. Anything they wanted to take, they needed only to ask to have it unsealed and handed over. Anything they wanted to take without the Torture and Interrogation Squad knowing was hidden away in one of their information safehouses (this one included) or within the Hokage's office, the most heavily-sealed and guarded room in the Fire Country. Danzo still might not have to say _why_ he wanted data, but with this system, Sarutobi always knew _what_ data his old rival was looking at.

The room was decently furnished—a couch and two armchairs gathered around a large table, with a fireplace along the wall and two small, barred windows. It attached to a kitchen, which was clearly well-maintained, as the counters and appliances gleamed. Sensor seals were etched into the walls and counters everywhere, designed to detect poisons of any kind. One could never be too cautious, after all. A hallway ran down the side of the kitchen, leading to the back door in one direction, the bathroom in the other, and splitting to a second hallway between the bathroom and the dining room, which was located right across the hallway from the kitchen. The dining room was simple—a dark brown, polished table, big enough to seat six people, with matching chairs. A door in the other corner of the dining room led to the second hallway, where the laundry room was located, as well as the stairs to the second floor. Ibiki followed the two up the stairs, which led to another hallway. This one ran the length of the house, broken only by seven doors embedded in the walls. "The first door on this side is another bathroom," Ibiki said, pointing. "The next two doors are your rooms. Decide who lives in which room. The other four—the doors marked with seals—are off-limits. If I catch either of you even trying to get into one of them, your career as a shinobi ends immediately."

Naruto gulped, staring at the doors with a mixture of longing and fear. Again, he was easy to read. Not being allowed to see inside made him _want_ to see inside, but at the same time he was terrified of not being able to become a ninja. One thing Ibiki noticed—Naruto had more respect for the rules than he was given credit for. He also rarely snapped back at the villagers who treated hm badly. He pulled a lot of pranks, but this was more for attention than any malicious intent, and nobody had ever been hurt by anything he'd done. Plus, he always got caught in the end and had to clean up his mess. The only time Ibiki had ever witnessed the boy push back was in the defense of others. Frankly, he was less of a delinquent than many kids around the village who had never been punished for their actions, and it was a miracle the kid still hadn't had the compassion beaten out of him.

Sasuke and Naruto walked over to the two doors Ibiki had pointed out for them. The blonde turned around. "Hey, hey, Sasuke, you mind if I take this room? Morning sunlight's better for my plants. I have some ramen downstairs too, so if you're hungry you can—" his words were cut off when the Uchiha turned and roughly shoved him up against the door. "Listen, Dead Last. I have to live here with you. That's all. I don't have to like you and I don't have to deal with you. Stay away from me. I'm not interested in being your friend." He spun on his heel, stepped into his new room, and slammed the door behind him, leaving a shocked Naruto in his wake. After a moment, the blonde composed himself and kicked the door as hard as he could. "See if I try to be nice to you again, you arrogant prick!" Not to be outdone, he slammed his own door as well, as hard as he could, and Ibiki was left alone in the hallway.

He sighed. Sasuke was unhappy about his new living arrangement, and was taking it out on Naruto. Naruto was digging deeper into his shell, because he'd thought that living with someone meant they had to acknowledge him, and he'd just had that hope shattered. He ran a thumb absentmindedly along the scar on his face, before turning and heading back down the stairs. He picked up the box with the plants on top that Naruto had left near the front door and moved them to the top of the stairs, so he could get them without having to be seen, then went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. He already knew neither of them would be eating tonight.

Tonight had been a step back for both of the boys.

But that was okay. There was time.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

The dog-masked ANBU is, naturally, Kakashi, playing with Naruto the only way he can. A lot of people were annoyed that Naruto had a crappy childhood despite his father being the Yondaime, but I never had an issue with it, for the reasons I've stated so far—Minato was just too badass. Everyone he knew was badass. They have badass mortal enemies. Any one of them—Jiraiya especially—would have put Naruto in mortal danger if they thought they could use him. Maybe it's a cop out, maybe the author didn't think things through, but that's the feeling I always got from it, anyway.

It was probably obvious to everyone before this chapter was posted, but now it's definitely clear that the story is not only about Naruto, though he will be focused on quite a bit. I've seen a lot of fanfiction where he gets a parental substitute or a different teacher because he won them over to his side, often in a matter of minutes. I have no issue with this, personally. He's noted to have a magnetic personality, after all. Combine this with the natural ability of single-digit-aged people to be cute at will, and that particular plot thread makes plenty of sense. However, as I've stated in the story, Ibiki always struck me as someone who can detach his actions from his emotions, and is stated to be an expert in psychology, so I wanted to give him a tangible, logical reason to do what he did. That does not mean he can't also feel for the boys, of course :D

Also, I am NOT a psychologist. I am the opposite of a psychologist. I'm...anti-social. So please don't hurt me if the reasoning makes no sense o_o

Anyway, any and all reviews are welcome. I feel a little iffy about how this chapter came out. I am by no means a pro at writing, of course, but something feels a little awkward here and I haven't been able to pinpoint it. Maybe it's just because I'm setting the story up?


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